Home again!

This year's amazing 9,561 kilometre trip had me riding in five different provinces.

It was the third longest ride since I started my annual motorcycle journeys in 2010. I have logged 75,744 kilometres since the first journey in the summer of 2010. To put this year's trip in perspective, the road distance between Halifax and Victoria is a mere 6,181 kilometres. To say that Canada is a big country is such an understatement; why Ontario alone goes on for days, and each of the other provinces visited are larger than much of Western Europe.

There are amazing sights in each part of this great land; whether its the majesty of the Rockies,

the beautiful Okanagan Valley with its dark green vineyards,

the way-out-to-the-horizon fields in the southern part of the Prairies,

or Lake Superior as seen from one of the lookouts along its granite shoreline.

At each stop, on each detour, there were wonderful things to see and experience. how often did I interrupt the music streaming from my MP3 with appreciative WOWs as I rounded a corner or crested a hill and observed yet another incredible sight. As I've said in the past, in my view there is no better way to see Canada than on a motorcycle; it's being in the picture as opposed to seeing through the windshield's frame, feeling the changes in the temperature and weather, and smelling the environment, whether it's the acrid smoke from the forest fires in BC, the sweetness of fresh mowed fields, or the fragrance of wild flowers in the ditches along the highways.

One of the best experiences was whisking by other motorcyclists.  At one point before Terrace Bay, between Wawa and Thunder Bay, I passed a group of 25 Harleys and the support van and trailer from Easy Riders Tour on a long passing lane. I smiled, broadly. I understand that the reason they have a van behind the group is to pick up the parts that are shaken off their bikes, or the strays that fall too far behind the herd.

I was away and rode on 21 days and stayed in hotels and motels on 17 nights; three nights were with family and friends, and the last in my own bed at home. Thanks to Neil and Glenda for their hospitality in Canmore, and to my brothers Gilles and Jean-Yves for taking care of my in the Greater Sudbury area.

The brief conversations with servers in restaurants, attendants in gas stations, hotels and motels, and strangers who wanted to know where I was from and going, were all welcome encounters.

I was extremely happen to meet my new blogging biker buddy from Saskatchewan in Moose Jaw and to ride with him for three days.  Greg is an excellent rider who, among other interests, shares my passion for motorcycling and discovery. I thank him for this new friendship and look forward to other opportunities to share some travels in the future.

My trusty BMW performed admirably throughout the trip; I only had to add, in total, about two-thirds of a litre of oil over the course of the trip.

I am also pleased to inform you all that I did not have to avail myself of the vast resources of Coutts Communicates' NORAD-like constant tracking system; though I was reassured to know that the whole team was ready, on but a moment's notice, to jump into action and provide whatever assistance was required.  Due to the wonders of technology, GPS, cellphone networks and Bluetooth, I was able to stay in touch with Jane and keep up with what was happening back home. I am very grateful to her for her continued understanding and support.

Finally I would like to thank you for taking the time to "ride" along with me via this blog.  I hope you found the trip interesting and hope to see you again next year.



For those who are interested by this kind of stuff here are some of facts about this year's trip:

Days away-riding: 21
Provinces travelled in: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia
Furthest point west: Merritt, British Columbia
Furthest point north: Mt. Robson
Accommodations: 17 hotels-motels; 3 private
Total kilometres: 9,561
Gasoline: 468.5 litres, $575; 4.9L per 100km

Wawa to Sudbury (Garson)

Tuesday, I left my comfortable log room at the Wawa Motor Inn after a bagel bacon in the breakfast room with a group of seniors on a bus tour.

Who would have thought that there could be such an interesting way, besides the Trans Canada Highway through Sault Ste Marie to get from Wawa to Sudbury? Though they are slower, 80 kph, and add about half an hour to the trip, the 101 and the 144 are great roads.  Both are well maintained beautiful strips of asphalt. The first goes through logging, camping and fishing country from Wawa to Timmins in a series of undulating, largely straight, stretches of road.

The scenery is quite interesting. As one who appreciates the beautiful and curious at the same time, I was impressed by this most gigantic boulder right next to the highway. This would be such a cool addition to my backyard rock collection; why it comes with it's own Christmas tree. Now if I can only figure out how to get it here without anyone noticing it's disappearance.

There are only two population centres, Chapleau and Foleyet along the entire 330 km route. Chapleau is a beautiful little town that has served as a mid-point station on the CP rail line between Sudbury and Thunder Bay since the 1860s. There is a fine museum with great artifacts, models and papers with its own steam engine outside. The plaque next to the train is dedicated to Louis Hémon, the author of the famous french novel 'Maria Chapdeleine' who was killed by a train near Chapleau in 1913 and is buried in the nearby cemetery.

The actual village is neatly laid out on the 'other side of the tracks' and boasts a wide main street with a few restaurants, a number of other businesses and public service agencies, and at least three churches, the biggest being the bilingual Roman Catholic Église Sacré Coeur.

As Northern Ontario was settled by a large number of francophone from Québec and New Brunswick it is not surprising to see signs in both official languages and the hear people in the region speaking french. This was certainly the case in Foleyet, the other much smaller community where I stopped for lunch, a great home made cheeseburger.

Though there were many signs warning of their presence

I did not encounter any moose along the way. But I did stop to pick these flowers for Jane.

Given the distance already traveled and the likelihood that there would not be much chance of finding gas on the northern part of highway 144, I pressed on pass the intersection of highways 101 and 144 to the outskirts of Timmins in order to fuel up. This 'detour', which turned out to be the right call - no gas on 144 for the first 105km, added another 50 kilometres to the ride. While I had been rather lucky with the weather and road construction on this trip up to this point, that was about to change on the stretch from Timmins to Gogama. I got both! But beyond slowing me down a bit, the rain, heavy at time wasn't that bad and the construction zones were mostly where there was resurfacing or bridge work going on.  In any event I made it into Sudbury just in time to catch the end of day traffic on Lasalle Boulevard, yet early enough to have a nice dinner with my older brother, and a visit with my dear 84 year old cousin and his darling wife afterwards.

Tomorrow, the last leg of the journey.

Back to the geese

Each time I have come to Thunder Bay I have made it a point to stop at the Terry Fox memorial.  This courageous young man whose memory lives on in the annual Marathon
of Hope that raises millions for the fight against cancer continues to inspire Canadians from all parts of the country.  His dream to run across Canada ended sadly 18 miles east of Thunder Bay. Many stop at his monument and remember his heroic efforts. This morning I met and chatted with the two brothers on the right of the picture. The are from Michigan and are on a motorcycle ride together, one on a Harley, the other on a BMW 800.

The Aquasabon River Gorge off Highway 17 just west of Terrace Bay is well worth a short stop.

OK now, quick, where does the famous bear come from? If you said the train station in White River, near where this wonderful sculpture of Winnie is now located, you would be right. And if you added that he had been purchased there on August 24, 1914 by Lieutenant Harry Colebourn of the 34th Fort Garry Horse and Canadian Army Veterinary Corps while en route oversees, you'd get bonus points.
He was left in the care of the London Zoo while Colebourn seved in France and stayed there for 20 years after he was given to the zoo for permanent keeping.

And here's the station, or a replica thereof, that serves as a tourist information bureau.

And so I rode the rest of the day under blue skies and arrived at the Wawa Motor Inn. I bet it is the only motel in the world that has a giant goose on its roof.

I'm staying in one of the rooms in the original part of this 70 unit establishment, one with all the conveniences, and its own church key on the log wall between the bed and the bathroom. Now ain't that the high of luxury?

Tomorrow I'm planning to take a different route from Wawa to Sudbury. Rather than continuing on Highway 17 through Sault Ste Marie, I am going to take Highway 101 East through Chapleau and Foleyet, and then Highway 148 South to Greater Sudbury.  While this will add about half an hour more to the journey it's a route I've never taken and therefore appealing. So, just me and the logging trucks.

Winnipeg to Thunder Bay via Fort Frances

The last two days, Winnipeg to Fort Frances and to Thunder Bay, at 424 k and 364 k respectively. were relatively speaking short riding days. Since there`s not much choice of where to stay besides these "major" population centres, it's either too long days in the saddle or shorter hops. The disadvantages of the former are obvious, while the advantage of the shorter legs is that you can stop more often to take in the views and other interesting things.

Ontario Welcomes you with two signs in quick succession.

Why the second? Well just in case you missed the first and we really want you to feel well, welcomed.

This is the land of rock cuts, lakes, trees, and not much else. It's of this part of the Trans Canada Highway that Lewis Black, the American comedian once said, something like: mile after mile of Christmas trees; you'd think someone would put up a string of lights!

There are a number of companies with float planes for hire if you want to take in the scenery from the air or be deposited on a remote lake for a private fishing excursion. Either would be fun, particularly on a hot day like today with clear blue skies.

For just $600 you, and two of your friends can have this Cessna for an hour, pilot included!

I had a swim in the salt water pool, a really excellent dinner and a wonderful breakfast at the Copper River Inn in Fort Frances. My black and blue sirloin club steak was perfectly cooked and the fries and vegetables that came with it could not be better. The before dinner Lake of the Woods beer and the Beringer merlot that accompanied the meal were just the right libations for the occasion.

When I awoke this morning and pulled open the curtains there it was, waiting and ready to take me on another ride.

While in Fort Frances, as close to the USA that I am likely to get in the next 3 1/2 years barring impeachment, I looked for the famous people's plaque dedicated to our dear friend Paula but did not find it. I should have gotten better instructions from Bill.

But I did cross the Noden Causeway that goes over part of Rainy Lake,

and I did find this informative display. I'll leave it to you to figure out which direction each side faces in. Think carefully.

And finally for today in our photo trivia category I've added the following pictures. Can you guess what this is?

Tomorrow, back to Wawa.

Now in Winnipeg

Yesterday I  rode south east from Speedy Creek to Estevan passing through some immense fields of grain and other crops. Many of the fields extend from the side of the highway to as far as you can see.  Here's an example of a wheat field. Check out the nice morning sky.

All of a sudden I notice this curious parade of trucks being marshalled in a driveway to assist in moving a house; not a sight we see much back home. I wonder why and where they were taking it.

On my way to Estevan I had decided to ride through Gravelbourg which is in the heartland of Franco-Manitoba.  The former "Couvent Jesus-Marie" is now the town's primary school.

And the bishop's residence which is next to a co-cathedral is a B&B.

I couldn't resist riding around the town of

while there were none on display, there was this children's park across the street from the grain elevator.

to say that traffic was light on the secondary highways I rode is a bit of an understatement. Here, from the center of the road is where I came from

and where I was headed.

And off to the side here's another of those field and sky views that so please the eye.

The village of Gainsborough is, as the sign points out, the oldest incorporated village in Saskatchewan.

Its main street has as many empty buildings as occupied ones.

Christ Church Anglican Church that dates back to 1897 is still used

But sadly the cinema next door has closed its doors for good.

As you approach Estevan, Saskatchewan's Energy Capital, you since more and more drill rigs punching new holes and pumps drawing up the liquid gold.

Today's ride from Estevan to Winnipeg was mostly oh Highway 2 and I managed to somehow miss the rain which I could see pouring down from dark clouds on either side of the highway. That was sweet. While the motel I am staying at on the Pembina Highway is very close to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers new home field, the television in the room did not have TSN. I was forced to watch our team lose another close game at home against the Bombers on my computer. The smaller screen did not make the result any better.

Hinton to Canmore via Jasper and the Icefields Parkway; and on to Speedy Creek, Saskatchewan

Yesterday I started by retracing some of the route I had been on Monday afternoon as I rode on Highway 16 from Hinton back to Jasper to connect with Highway 93, the famous, and justifiably so, Icefields Highway. The weather which started off cool and misty cleared rather quickly and it turned out to be one of the best riding days of the trip.  The mountains, many of which have snow covered north facing walls, are so beautiful that it's hard to decide when to pause and have a longer look.  I made my first such stop at a lookout for Mount Edith Cavell which you can see (imagine) in this picture.

A while later I visited the Sunwapta Falls where the roiling river is funneled through a very narrow cleft in the mountains.

And as you round a corner and look off in the distance the road seems to run straight into another mountain.

At the Athabaska Glacier, which is part of the Columbia Icefields, I parked the motorcycle and walked, like dozens of other visitors, to the toe of the glacier.

Off in the distance, across from the glacier, you can just about make out a very large visitor centre located just off the Parkway.

After more stops, including lunch at the Crossings Pub where I got to bbq my own burger, I continued on the Parkway to Lake Louise and then to Banff on Highway 1. I stopped for a Starbucks coffee and parked my motorcycle in what seemed to me to be a familiar spot.

Here's why:

July 1, 2010

August 1, 2017

Not much has changed, except for the guy in/not the picture.

I arrived at our dear friends Neil and Glenda's beautiful condo in Canmore in plenty of time to have some wine and a lovely dinner.  Afterwards we went out for a short walk and Neil showed me the work that has been done to contact a stream that a few years ago overflowed its banks damaging some properties and washing out part of the Trans Canada Highway.  My hosts were extremely gracious and it was interesting catching with with our lives.

This morning after coffee and more chit chat I thank Neil and Glenda for their hospitality and left for Speedy Creek. (Now, how many of you knew that's the name residents of Saskatchewan give to Swift Current?)  The ride started off quite cool, at 13, but gradually got hotter as  I rode through Calgary, where I stopped at the BMW motorcycle dealership to pick up a litre of motor oil - just in case.

The rest of the ride was fast and eventful. Well uneventful except for nearly running out of gas. Do you know that riding at 125+ kilometres an hour burns more fuel than 110 kph? Enough in fact to throw off any range calculations I've been using for years. When I finally pulled into the COOP service station in Tongkins, warning lights were flashing a threatening yellow and I was coasting on fumes. This episode will sound familiar to my new riding buddy Greg who had the same thing happen to him when he and I were riding together .  The moral of the story is, Guy don't be so smug it can happen to anyone.

Because we all love trains, some of us (Mick) way more than others, today's picture of note is of a particularly long and slow one that blocked the highway for over 5 minutes as it pulled into the yards in Swift Current.